Send me email updates about messages I've received
on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.By signing up, you certify that
you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.

Question to the BF moms. How do you lay in bed while you BF and sleep?

I'm due next April 1. I have a playard/bassinet i got a few months ago and its set up next to my bed where i sleep. But what if i want to sleep and bf at the same time? How do i lay the baby so he wont stop breathing or smother him? Will i know when he is done eating? im not a first time mom but this will be my first time BF exclusively. I wont be using any bottles or pacis.

OP here. Oh i heard you where able to lay baby with you as soon as being born and fall asleep. but okay. I am not buying a co sleeper, i already got a new bassinet/playard at babies r us.

Answer by
Anonymous
at 1:36 PM on Nov. 17, 2009

Lay him next to you. You will find that the positioning is near perfect... almost as if we were designed to do it! Ingenious!

May take a little practice to get it right, but just find what works for you. I had to tilt my second sons head back to be sure his nose was no pressed up to my boob. Every baby will be different though, so just play around with it.

You won't smother him in the same way that you won't fall off the bed in the middle of the night. You will be very aware of him throughout the night and wake when he starts to stir and look for the breast again.

Usually I will stay awake until he is asleep the first time and then go to sleep myself... but in the middle of the night we both go right back to sleep. He unlatches when he's done and I wake up with my boob still exposed.

My favorite position for nursing was to lie next to the baby and nurse. He just fits perfectly there. You can't fall soundly asleep, but you don't have to be fully awake. I co-slept while I nursed. It really is the easiest way.

I guess I am weird. I can sleep while she nurses. I lay on my side and baby lays on her side. When baby unlatches she is done. Do you roll off the bed? I know I don't. That same mechanism keeps us from rolling ontop of our babies.

I could never nurse laying down, but I've fallen asleep nursing sitting up. Anyway, with my daughter I had a bassinet right next to the bed and one of those pillow things that let you sit up in bed (I have no idea what they're called, but they supported me more sitting up than a regular pillow.) So when she would wake up I would pick her up, lean against the pillow to nurse her, then put her back down as soon as she was done. I didn't have to get out of bed and she learned to go right back to sleep and started sleeping through the night really early. She also didn't poop in the night though. My son would always poop after he ate so then I would have to get up and change him in the middle of the night and then he would be wide awake.

My lil guy is a month now but he finally got the hang of nursing like that two weeks ago. It would have been sooner had he not been in the NICU for a week (which caused for bottle use & supply issues & all that crap). I was scared at first & very unsure about how it would work & if he'd be okay, etc. But when the time came it just felt so natural & it didn't take too long for him to get the hang of either. Just play around with it, try different positions (I also like sitting in my recliner with the boppy, leaning back, & snoozing while he eats) & routines...you're bound to find one that works perfectly for both you & baby!